Countdown to Agfest is on

There’s already a buzz around this year’s Agfest - and it’s not the one Rural Youth vice president Rory Eaton usually finds as a beekeeper.

With the countdown on to the May 7-9 agricultural showcase at Quercus Park, Carrick, the exhibitors locked in and a new site office almost ready for occupation, there will be no backing off for the Rural Youth executive and its young members on the Agfest Committee. 

Rory, 25, is familiar with the fast pace after seven years of helping at the record-breaking field days.

He was 18 and working through a certificate II in agriculture at the Sorell School farm when Rural Youth members popped in to talk to students about volunteering at Agfest.

“A group of us signed up and I continued helping out over the next few years, mainly because it was interesting, fun, social and I really didn’t know what else I wanted to do,” Rory said.

“I was considering university, perhaps policing, but I was so disengaged at college – the classroom just didn’t suit me – but there was plenty to do at Rural Youth and I really started to take an interest in what was going on behind the scenes.”

Rory decided to step up into an organisational role and joined the board of directors, where he enjoyed learning the “nitty gritty” of the business side, from regulatory compliance to finance.

They were skills that soon started paying off in other areas of his life.

At the time Rory was living at home on 40 acres near Sandford, where he and his dad kept bees as a hobby.

A fellow Rural Youth member told him about a job going at Stephens Honey at Mole Creek so he moved north and for the next few years he worked as a commercial beekeeper.

“When the verroa mite outbreak happened in New South Wales and there were jobs going doing verroa surveillance I secured one of those jobs,” Rory said.

“That eventually morphed into a position with Biosecurity Tasmania, where I’m now a senior biosecurity inspector in animal welfare and biosecurity.

“Basically without Rural Youth I wouldn’t be in the career I’m in today.”

“I have a lot to credit to the organisation and that’s why I’ll continue to give back as much as I can and help provide the same opportunities to others.”

Now in his second year as vice president, Rory looks back with pride at what he has achieved.

“I’ve been able to do all the courses on offer and help others achieve certification in skid steer, forklift and escavator operations and working on elevated platforms,” he said.

“The courses are heavily subsidised by Rural Youth, so one might cost $50 instead of $350.

“I’ve learned about how to manage events and run a business, with one of the biggest achievements being a part of getting the Hagley Rural Youth event Rural Rumble back up and running and growing after its covid hiatus.

Rural Youth members are so skilled up they’re able to take care of much of the heavy site work themselves, from road maintenance, drainage and other earthworks to preparing foundations for a new toilet block.

They also benefit from having a Civil Contractors Federation compound and training facility on-site.

When it comes to the actual field day, Rory finds himself more hands-off – working in the feature tent and talking to people in community engagement, membership and media promotions.

Next year it will come as no surprise if he’s in the top job, with current state president Amber Bramich finishing her two-year stint.